Attempts have been made to prepare materials with improved properties based on the commercial rod-like polymer poly(p-Phenylene Terephthalamide) (PPTA) with various other polymers. These include: PPTA with nylon 6 and nylon 66 by Takayanagi et al (J. Macro Sci. Phys., B17(2), 519, 1980); PPTA with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by Takayanagi et al (Report on Progress in Polymer Physics in Japan, 26, 319, 1983); PPTA with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins by Takayanagi et al (J. Applied Polymer Sci., Vol. 29, 257-2559, 1984); and Japanese Pat. No. 0,034,884 which describes forming a composite material of PPTA with epoxy resins in the presence of lactam and isocyanate compounds. Blends containing thermosetting resins cannot be readily melt processed and the nylon-PPTA and PVC-PPTA blends show only slightly improved properties.
Other materials, such as solvent-blended polyurethane with polyethylene terephthalate and/or nylon 6 or nylon 66, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,936 are useful for making leather-like fabrics and do not exhibit the properties of high performance engineering thermoplastics. Engineering properties, however, can be achieved by physically blending nylon and polyurethane with an added amount of chopped glass fibers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,879.